Mee Siam

Name: Mee Siam (Spicy Fried Vermicelli with Prawn (Shrimp) and Egg Garnish)
Yield: Makes 8 Servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon salt; 2 cups water; 230 g or 8 ounces shallots, peeled and diced; 500 g or 1½ pounds dried vermicelli (bee hoon); 1 bunch garlic chives (ku chai), chopped into short lengths; 60 g or 2 ounces belachan cut into small cubes; 60 g or 2 ounces dried chillies, stemmed and deseeded, soaked in hot water; 10 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced or quartered; 12 calamansi limes (limau kesturi), cut into halves; ¾ cup oil for frying; 2 tablespoons sugar; 150 g or 5¼ ounces fermented soy bean paste (taucheo); 4 pieces firm bean curd (taukua), seared brown on all sides and cut into 1-cm or ½-inch cubes; 450 g or 1 pound medium prawns (shrimps), boiled, shelled and sliced into halves; 2 to 6 tablespoon sugar, or more if gravy is salty; 350 g or 2 pounds bean sprouts (taugeh), roots plucked; 2 big red onions, peeled and sliced; 4 cups thin coconut milk (add 5 cups water to a 425 ml or 14 oz tin of coconut milk and measure from there); 100 g or 3 ounces tamarind (assam), soaked in 2½ cups of hot water; 170 g or 6 ounces dried shrimps, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and pat dry

Spicy Fried Vermicelli with Prawn (Shrimp) and Egg Garnish

Preparation info

Makes
8
Servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Growing Up In A Nonya Kitchen

By Sharon Wee

Published 2012

About

Family friends often called my mother, urging her to teach them how to prepare her lovely version of mee siam. It was a family favourite and appeared regularly at children’s birthday parties as tea-time fare for the adults.

Ingredients

Spice Paste

170 g or 6 ounces dried shrimps, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and pat dry
230 g

Fish course
Pescatarian
Birthday
Gluten-free

Method

In a blender, add dried shrimps, shallots, dried chillies and belachan in that order. Process to a fine paste. This can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. Thaw before cooking.
Soak vermicelli in hot water for 1 hour to soften. Then drain the vermicelli. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This will be used to hold the noodles later.
Heat oil